


Livin' La Vida Lacey

by thebabytiger



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Pool & Billiards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-25 07:32:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2613545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebabytiger/pseuds/thebabytiger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The patrons of the Rabbit Hole don't know that Lacey was little more than a personality gifted to Belle as part of a curse, and while Storybrooke is small, it's not so large that she can avoid Lacey forever. Especially not when Ruby is around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Livin' La Vida Lacey

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty sure that a long time ago, Phoenix_Cry said something about pool tables and this happened. I'm pretty sure that this description can explain about half of "my" ideas...

“Hope to see you around again soon, Lacey,” was what Ruby heard as she approached the table, easily sliding into the booth just as the man, one of the town’s many slightly burly, slightly rough looking guys in flannel, walked away from the table. Ruby was currently supposed to be working, and if Granny saw her sitting in one of the Diner’s booths like a customer she was sure to have an earful, but Belle was a friend and she could use a little bit of a break from being on her feet.

“So, Lacey, huh?” she asked the librarian with a hideously transparent air of nonchalance. She hadn’t really heard anyone use that name since Belle had been restored to herself and honestly the waitress hadn’t missed it all that much. Lacey was gone, and Belle was back, and all was right in the world. Mostly.

Belle’s face had a slight frown, the crinkle on her brow indicative of being slightly disturbed as well as slightly confused. Ruby spent enough time talking with Belle, who was wonderfully open and warm, to know the expressions that crossed the other woman’s face. While some in the town, like Regina and Emma, were hard to read (the Mayor always cool and aloof and the Sheriff working a gruff, tough persona) and others were almost the same all the time, Belle was different from all of them. She had, and displayed, the full spectrum of human emotion, openly and without restraint. For someone like Ruby, who made a living talking to people all day while serving their food, this was a nearly unparalleled gift. 

“Yes, some people in Storybrooke still call me that,” the bookish brunette responded slowly, clearly still trying to puzzle through the entire encounter.

“Oh,” Ruby said, only slightly surprised. “So you know him, then?” She really wasn’t trying to pry, but was suddenly very curious. The man himself was unremarkable, and Ruby thought she had seen him around before, but couldn’t put her finger on where she had seen him or even who he was.

“Not exactly.” Ruby raised a questioning eyebrow when it seemed that nothing else was forthcoming. “Ugh, I don’t know, Ruby!” she finally settled on, more than a little exasperated. 

“Well try to explain it,” Ruby suggested, just a hint of bite in her tone. “Maybe then we will both have a clue what’s going on.”

“It’s nothing,” Belle said dismissively, and annoyed, Ruby stood up to leave. “Wait, Ruby,” Belle added quickly, reaching out to grasp the werewolf by the wrist. There was a pause, and then a heavy sigh from Belle when Ruby didn’t turn around. “It’s just that there are all these people who knew Lacey,” she said, voice so low that even Ruby had to concentrate on the sound. Oh. She turned to face the table once more, suddenly aware that this was going to be a more difficult topic than she had anticipated. For some reason, the waitress was ashamed to admit that she had expected to hear something about the other woman using her alter-ego’s name as a nickname or something else harmless (though the idea had been slightly unsettling even when it was just that innocent). “There are all of these people who knew her,” Belle repeated, voice stronger, “and they keep seeing me around town and, well, they think I’m still her.”

“But you’re not,” Ruby said instantly. “Belle, you aren’t Lacey anymore.”

“I know that, but they don’t. And, these strangers they really liked Lacey. They miss her. I guess she made quite the impact on more than just our little circle here.”

Ruby hadn’t exactly thought about it that way. She had the vague suspicion that she had seen the man from before at the Rabbit Hole, and that he obviously had met Lacey there. Ruby loved the Diner, she really did, but it was not really the place to go if you wanted a hint of night life. And Storybrooke was nice enough, but it was really short on alternatives when it came to socializing. The Rabbit Hole pretty much summed the entire list up in a single name (though Ruby had always thought that the Library would have made a great nightclub if it hadn’t been so busy being a, well, Library).

“So these people just come up to you and say they miss her?” That was definitely a little weird. In effect, that meant Belle was pretty much pretending to be someone she had never met, talking to someone she had never met for the first time while pretending it was just one of many conversations. The leggy brunette wasn’t sure that a deception quite so complicated was easy, or possible, for Belle to maintain. 

“Yes,” Belle said, sounding miserable. “They all say they miss me around the Rabbit Hole and that they’d like to see me around again. Some of them say they’ve been practicing their pool or that they owe me a drink the next time I’m there but I’ve never taken a shot in my life and I definitely don’t know how to play pool.”

“Well that’s easy enough to fix,” Ruby said cheerfully, just as Granny’s voice came from the direction of the kitchen. 

“Ruby, what—“ Belle started to say but Ruby was already moving towards the kitchen with an apologetic look on her face. 

“That was Granny. I’ll explain later, I promise,” she told Belle, turning quickly to try and escape the pitifully confused and distressed look on her friend’s face. That look was the same thing that had made Ruby initially come over to talk to the other woman, back when Belle had been fresh out of captivity and hadn’t even had iced tea before. Ruby had waited until the brunette ordered her third before finally caving into her desire to fix whatever problem had put the distressed and lost look on Belle’s beautiful face. It had worked, and it hadn’t worked at the same time, but the two women had become closer and Ruby was definitely getting better at ensuring the other woman wasn’t lost as often anymore. When she had first walked into the diner she had been a tiny boat in a huge, roiling sea. Now she was hardly getting cast adrift at all. The hamburgers had definitely helped.

Behind her, Belle made a frustrated motion and then settled sulkily into the booth, not wanting to wait for Ruby to explain her brilliant plan, but the waitress was already gone.

///

Ruby didn’t see Belle again until the next day, engaged in conversation with yet another guy who Ruby knew from experience frequented the Rabbit Hole. Ruby hesitated, knowing she was about to be late for a shift at the diner but also knowing from Belle’s face yesterday in the aftermath of another similar conversation that she really did need some rescuing. Although Ruby wasn’t sure that what she was planning could be construed as rescuing. That said, Ruby found that the decision between getting yelled at by Granny for being late and not getting yelled at by Granny because she wasn’t late was a no brainer. Squaring her shoulders she walked right past the door to the diner and crossed the street towards the pair.

“Ruby, hi,” Belle said as she approached them and Ruby hoped she wasn’t imagining the small amount of relief in the greeting. Giving the accented woman a brilliant smile, she turned to the man in greeting. 

“Hey Jack,” she said, trying to keep her tone light, warm, and friendly, “I haven’t seen you around much lately.”

The man smiled back at her easily. “Ruby! Yeah it’s been a while since I’ve been to Granny’s. It’s been a rough few months, you know?”

Ruby did know. Mostly the town was settled down from the aftermath of the curse breaking but for some people things had been very chaotic. Ruby herself wasn’t sure which life she had preferred living: life as just Ruby, or the new life as a weird hybrid of both Red and Ruby. Nodding sympathetically at the words, Ruby casually linked arms with the brunette beside her. 

“I totally understand,” she said, giving the arm in hers a slight squeeze, “but I do hope to see you around soon. Otherwise I’ll be forced to conclude that Granny’s pie isn’t good enough for you and you know how she would feel about that.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Jack responded in total seriousness. “But you could always come to my neck of the woods too, you know.”

“The Rabbit Hole?” Ruby asked, eyes trying to convey genuine curiosity, as if she didn’t already know exactly where he meant. Lacey had shaken the place up, and Ruby was by no means a regular, but Lacey hadn’t been the first woman that bar had missed when she didn’t come around anymore. “I hear you should be careful about spending too much time there... you might find yourself in Wonderland,” she jested lightly. 

“Nah, Wonderland isn’t my style. Besides, I doubt any of us drunks could find the way there even if the Hole did go down far enough.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Oh Jack, do none of you men know how to ask for directions?” When he shook his head at her, grinning good naturedly at the insult, she gave a single look at Belle and then, mind made up, “Maybe you need a pair of women to show you how to read a map, then.” Belle stiffened next to her, but Ruby tried to reassure her through another slight squeeze, now glad for having thought to link arms with the brunette just in case the other woman tried to bolt. 

“Maybe we do,” Jack was saying, a touch of flirtation in his voice. “Know where we can find a good pair of those?”

“Maybe I do,” Ruby responded with an exaggerated wink. “Lacey and I were planning on hitting the Rabbit Hole after my shift is over, so you bring the map and we’ll see if we can’t give you a good education.”

The response was a low whistle, the grin turning slightly wolfish. Ruby wasn’t phased in the slightest. “That sounds like quite the promise, Miss Ruby,” Jack said. “Which means I will most definitely be seeing you two tonight.”

“Great,” Ruby chirped. “Now if you’ll excuse us… We won’t ever make it out if I don’t make it to the Diner on time,” she added, ignoring the fact that Belle wasn’t necessarily covered by her excuse.

“Wouldn’t want to upset Granny,” Jack said with a nod. And without much more fanfare the group split, Ruby still holding tight to the arm Belle had looped through hers, dragging the other woman with her back across the street and into the relative safety of the diner. 

They had barely made it through the door before Belle's free hand came up to pry herself free of the werewolf's grasp, stopping dead in the entry way and piercing her friend with a serious look. "Ruby, I don't know how to be Lacey."

"I have a plan for that," Ruby hastily assured her, very aware of the impatient look that Granny was sending in her direction. 

"But Ruby," Belle started, only to be interrupted by a pointed call from behind the counter.

"Don't worry, okay?" Ruby pleaded with the Librarian. "I've got it all taken care of."

As she hustled away, she couldn't help but look back at Belle, registering with a small amount of concern that the brunette did not look at all unworried.

///

Ruby bit back a low whistle as she surveyed her handiwork, having borrowed from her own closet in order to make sure that Belle was properly dressed for their night out. Of course, on this issue Belle very much disagreed with Ruby's definition of "properly" and had argued the point quiet vehemently. Ruby hadn't been easily swayed, though, since she remembered very well exactly how attractive Belle had looked in Lacey's clothes. Apparently the librarian disagreed enough to get rid of the barfly's clothes, though Ruby had always sort of wondered how all of a sudden Belle's closet had been full of the exact type of clothing that Lacey would wear. Maybe a gift from the Mayor, or part of the original curse? Either way, Lacey's things weren't an option, and Ruby had set herself to raiding her own closet, which was more than suitable. As if on cue, Belle tugged once more at the high hemline of the dress she was modeling, clearly trying to once more protest the clothing option even if she wasn't going to voice her concerns.

"It's perfect, stop fussing with it," Ruby scolded, managing to pull herself out of the reverie she had managed to fall head over heels into when the brunette had emerged wearing that particular option. The dress was nothing fancy, and in fact was beautiful because of the simplicity. But what it lacked in pattern and an avant-garde cut it made up for in how much bare skin it left on display. Though long sleeved with a modest neckline, the dress was deceptively daring with a low cut, draped back and a hemline that was much higher up the thighs than Belle's fingertips could touch with relaxed arms. Ruby wasn't sure why, but she had spent her entire Storybrooke life measuring skirt length by where her fingers fell... and then promptly ignoring the general rule of thumb which said anything shorter than her fingertips was too short. 

"I'm not going to be able to bend over," Belle snarked right back at her, "and I'm not even going to mention how a dress that doesn't have a back really shouldn't count as being actual clothes."

"You'll be fine, as long as you stop fussing with it," Ruby reiterated. "And you'll be able to bend more than you think. Besides, you're wearing shorts underneath for a reason." And that had been one of Ruby's rules that had seemed nearly incomprehensible to Belle. In the librarian's mind, anything so short you needed shorts underneath was too short. Ruby wasn't sure whether or not pointing out that she had worn it, and with her leggy build, and been just fine would help at all. Storybrooke Ruby had dressed a little bit sluttier than the current Ruby/Red hybrid version. Not that it stopped her from wearing leather pants and a shirt that was just about as revealing in the front as Belle's dress was revealing in the back.

Belle gave a resigned sigh. "Fine, I trust you, I do," she said, only halfway sounding like she was reminding herself as much as Ruby. "But if I flash the entire bar I will hold you personally responsible."

Ruby just smiled at her, taking another moment to survey her work. With the clothes, and the slightly different hair and makeup, Belle really did look like Lacey. That said, Belle was very clearly herself, and Ruby could detect the slight nuances in her expression. The combination was more than a little alluring. "You'll be fine," she said, voice slightly hoarse, and realized she meant it in more ways than one.

///

“This was a terrible idea.” Belle balked only a step away from the door to the Rabbit Hole and Ruby gave a sigh in response, linking arms with the other woman for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.

“No, this was a great idea.”

“By whose standards?”

“Mine. At least you’ll get to be yourself. Well, you pretending to be Lacey pretending to be you, anyway.”

“You sound crazy, Ruby.”

“Okay, so maybe we won’t talk about it quite like that. It’s a little weird to think about anyway,” Ruby said pensively. “That doesn’t mean it’s not a great idea,” she adds suddenly, tugging the door open and dragging the other brunette through it in the same movement. Belle’s reflexes are pretty quick, but they aren’t quick enough to stop a werewolf quite as devious as Ruby when Ruby truly wants to do something.

As it is though, Ruby only just barely manages to get her inside the door and the instant Belle is through it she stops moving again. Ruby cheerfully links arms with her again, this time trying to appear less exasperated with her friend than she already is, and drags her to the bar. 

“Tequila,” she asks the bartender, holding up two fingers to indicate that she wants a shot for the both of them. “Keep it open.” A credit card makes a slight thwack as the plastic hits the polished wood, and the bartender grabs two shot glasses and places them right next to the card on the bar.

“Sure thing Ruby,” he says with a smile, reaching for the tequila. “But the first round is on the house – the boys and I have missed you.” 

“I’ve missed you too,” Ruby interjects, as if she hadn’t noticed the way his eyes had pinned themselves on Belle for that last part. Lacey would be recognized, and many people would be glad to see her back, but Lacey was also just mysterious and mischievous enough that they were hoping people wouldn’t question if things seemed a little off. 

There is a pause and Ruby thinks that maybe she played that last part too obliviously, but she gives a slight sigh as the bartender smiles. “Glad to hear it. You know, Lacey, we’ve missed you down here too.”

Belle absolutely freezes; Ruby can feel the tension radiating from her body and starts to wonder if this actually was a terrible idea. Hoping the other woman would eventually catch on, Ruby once again interjects. “I didn’t know you’d been here before.”

“I, uh, I suppose I have been here, uh, a few times,” Belle manages but she seems to be easing her way into it despite how much the first sentence makes Ruby want to wince. “It’s been a while though. Ruby was going to teach me to play pool,” she adds as an aside to the bartender, who looks dubiously at the pair of them.

“She’s going to teach you to play pool?”

“I’m not a terrible teacher, Ken, but thanks for the vote of confidence. And the tequila.”

“Right, well you’re in good hands Lacey,” the bartender, Ken, settles for as Belle gives him a look that urges him to just go with it. 

Ruby grabs one of the shots off the bar, pointing at one of the pool tables with it while she waits for Belle to pick up the other shot. Ken reaches down to flick the switch, flooding the area around the table with light. 

“To pool,” she proclaims grandly, holding her glass towards Belle, who hesitates only a moment before meeting the glass halfway and downing the shot. Belle takes hers a little more slowly, but the smile that’s been on her face the entire time is growning and she is convinced once more that this isn’t a stupid idea. 

The duo order another round of drinks, though this time they forego the shots and order simple cocktails instead, and make their way over to the table, where Ruby starts racking up the balls and explaining the basics of the rules. She then demonstrates how to shoot properly by executing a simple but smooth break that at the very least sends all the balls away from each other on the table, giving them lots of opportunities. She’s looking at Belle as she does so, so she’s not entirely surprised to find that she doesn’t manage to get a single ball in the pocket. Belle, who is sipping demurely at her drink, looks reluctant to actually leave the barstool she has seated herself on when Ruby first holds the cue towards her, but when Ruby doesn’t immediately give up she does slip off the stool, placing her drink on the small ledge behind her, and walk over.

“Okay, she me how it’s done.” Ruby beams, undeterred by the fact that Belle’s voice is entirely devoid of enthusiasm.

A few attempts later and Ruby is once more thinking that this was a crazy idea. On the plus side, no one would think that anyone could possibly play this poorly unless they were trying to do so so their cover story is still intact. On the downside...

"This is ridiculous," Belle practically snarls as the cue stick slides across the top of the ball. She has missed the cue ball entirely more often than she has hit it, and when she has hit it she is lucky if it manages to make contact with any of the other balls on the table. Considering that Ruby hasn't taken a shot since the break, and the balls are so scattered across the table that it would be almost difficult not to hit anything, it isn't looking good.

"No, no, you've got this," Ruby says encouragingly from the sidelines, more than a little concerned that their night out will be an utter failure. "You just keep looking up at the last second so your hand pulls up." The look she gets from Belle for that pearl of wisdom is just a little scary. "Here, let me help you," she offers, coming to stand behind the librarian. Belle is once again standing stiffly enough that Ruby can feel the tension radiate against her skin, so she takes the opportunity to count to five before she tries a tentative, "Okay?"

"Yes," Belle breathes, but the tension is still there so Ruby keeps her movements cautious and deliberate as she closes the slight distance between them and reaches around to place both of her hands over Belle's.

"Okay, so you just line up your shot," Ruby says, mouth suddenly dry as Belle's body heat slams into her awareness, "and then just keep your swing nice and loose and then..." The slight clack of two balls hitting each other is the reward, but Ruby barely sees one of the solids bounce up against the cushion near one of the corner pockets. "There you go," she said, stepping away again as Belle turns to face her, face alight with excitement. 

"It actually hit something!" she exclaims and Ruby grins, the energy is contagious.

"Yeah it did. That means it's my turn."

Ruby is afraid that her shot isn't all that impressive, since mostly it just makes a whole bunch of balls clack their way around the table while ultimately not doing a single thing, but Belle still looks excited when she steps forward to line up her shot so she decides that it doesn't matter at all how well she does. 

"Will you help me again?" Belle's voice is small enough that if it weren't for the wolf hearing Ruby might not have heard her, but the way she pauses in the middle of preparing to take a shot, like suddenly she has just remembered something, is obvious enough. And Ruby knows that the thing the other woman has just realized is that she still can't play pool.

This time, when Ruby steps up behind her Belle's body is relaxed, though the waitress is no more prepared for the wave of inviting heat than she was the first time. The shot isn't complicated, but the ball goes in this time and Ruby once more steps away feeling cold. 

By the time the table is halfway cleared (Ruby has missed nearly every shot but she and Belle have been indiscriminately knocking both stripes and solids into the pockets) Ruby is pretty convinced that Belle could be doing this on her own with a varied amount of success. She has been trying to lighten her guiding touch each time it's Belle's turn to shoot and is pretty sure that she is little more than a space heater and a voice in Belle's ear at this point. So she takes a few shots off. The first few are fine, as if to prove her theory, as it seems like Belle has finally gotten fluidity down, but her aim is getting steadily worse as the table clears, and it's therefore getting more and more obvious just how terrible some of the shots really are. 

"My aim is really off," Belle comments as the cue ball spins around the table, making contact with nothing but the cushions on the edge of the table. Ruby doesn't know how to respond to that so she just keeps her mouth shut. "I think I need help again," she adds when it doesn't look like Ruby is going to come over and help.

Ruby puts her drink down and stands, trying to ignore the sudden flutter of nerves in her stomach and the sense of anticipation that is making her palms itch, coming to stand once more behind the other woman. “I think you were doing just fine on your own,” she points out weakly, standing just scant inches away from having her entire body pressed, once more, against Belle’s back. 

Belle twists towards her, hip brushing against Ruby’s front, to give her a puzzled look. “Perhaps I am getting better, but I still think I play much better with you here to help me,” the librarian says, like that settles it, and Ruby has no choice but to close the distance between them and reach for the cue. She manages not to mention that while Belle has been doing better the closer Ruby is, Ruby is managing to play proportionately worse as she tries to compete with the slightest buzz from the alcohol and the sudden feeling that the room has grown hotter than a sauna and that each time Belle and Ruby touch the room grows hotter. Ruby can’t think of a single time she’s ever felt the same thing before, but she knows she’s more drunk off of Belle’s touch than she’s ever been off of tequila, and she also laughs at how appropriate it is that she would be rethinking the wisdom of her plans just as Belle seems to be getting into the spirit of the night. 

Ruby right behind her, Belle bends over the table, and the waitress swears that with this shot the other woman’s ass is pressing ever so lightly against her. Startled, Ruby jumps back just as Belle takes the shot, sending the cue ball bouncing over the table and right off the edge. The werewolf jumps back from Belle as if burned, her face redder than the streak she’d dyed in her hair not long ago, and actually stutters as someone from another table has to return the white ball. 

“Are you okay, Ruby?” Belle asks worriedly, stepping forward to close the distance that Ruby has managed to gain by leaping away like frightened rabbit.

“Fine,” she answers, but she knows her voice is too high.

Belle’s cool fingers press against her cheek and Ruby realizes that she’s cornered against the pool table as the brunette takes another step towards her. “You’re acting strange and you’re burning up, Rubes,” she assesses, “are you sure?”

“Of course, it’s just really hot in here,” she babbles brightly, words too fast for Belle to even think about buying it. “Do you want another drink?” She half-heartedly tries to make a break for it but Belle doesn’t move, fingers still on her face, and the best she manages to do is turn her head towards the bar. 

Belle effortlessly turns her face back so that she’s looking straight at the shorter woman, though heels have evened out the height disparity somewhat, and now both hands are on Ruby’s face and the waitress is too terrified to even breathe. This was definitely not what she’d had in mind when she’d suggested a pool night. “I don’t believe you, Ruby Lucas,” Belle proclaims solemnly. “You look unbelievably tense,” she says next, caressing Ruby’s jaw with her fingertips, voice low and quiet, for Ruby’s ears only. “I wish you’d relax.”

“I am—,“ Ruby starts, but her sentence embarrassingly trails into a squeak that would sound more at home coming from the mouth of a pre-pubescent boy than it does from the leggy werewolf as Belle steps even closer. Ruby tries to step back to compensate and maintain the gap, but the pool table presses into her thighs and she realizes that Belle has managed to pin her solidly against the pool table with her own body. 

“No, I don’t think you are,” Belle replies, accurately surmising the gist of Ruby’s half-sentence. “Is it something I did?”

She’s still impossibly close, and Ruby’s practically itching with anticipation, though what exactly she expects will happen is somewhat of a mystery, and she’s embarrassed to feel moisture pooling between her legs, which have spread of their own accord so that one of Belle’s thighs can fit between them. Mouth so dry she can’t even contemplate speaking, she shakes her head.

“So then you won’t mind if I…? Belle is practically whispering now, pressing her body just a little bit closer and leaning up so that their faces are only a couple inches apart, at the most, and Ruby can smell the tequila on the shorter brunette’s breath as each exhale comes to mingle with her own.

“Belle,” Ruby croaks out in a matching whisper, the rest of the sentence lost as Belle shakes her head.

“It’s Lacey, here, isn’t it?” Belle asks, and Ruby’s eyes widen, leaning back in abrupt shock. Whatever she had been expecting, she hadn’t been expecting that. “That’s the game we’re playing tonight, isn’t it?” Belle continues, her fingertips trying to coax Ruby’s mouth closer to hers again. 

“Is that what this is? A game?” Tears prickle at the corners of her eyes and Ruby blinks once, hard, willing them back into non-existence. 

“Oh Ruby,” Belle says, and she sounds impossibly sad. “You’re never a game to me.”

“And… tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow I will show you again how much I appreciate your help tonight. And the day after, and the week after, if you’ll let me. You’ve helped me come to terms with a part of myself that I never knew was there, and that’s more valuable to me than you’ll ever know. You’ve treasured me for being me, and I’d like to do the same for you,” she explained, leaning up a fraction of an inch more and waiting for Ruby to make the final move. Ruby is still frozen in shock, and after a moment of waiting for movement from the motionless waitress Belle stiffens and her hands drop as she starts to pull away slowly. “Oh. I, uh, I guess--,” she started, but Ruby’s brain had caught up with the conversation and Belle’s sentence faltered to a halt as Ruby’s hands grabbed at her hips.

“I don’t know what apology you were going to say,” the waitress breathes, pulling the other woman a tiny bit closer to her, “but don’t.”

“Don’t?’ Belle queries, but she seems to have relaxed back against Ruby’s body, curves fitting seamlessly against curves.

“Don’t stop,” Ruby finishes, finally closing the gap between their lips.

The world slows to a stop and what feels like an eternity later, even though the kiss was little more than a gentle brush of their lips, Ruby becomes aware of a few cat calls and wolf whistles. She herself has done worse than make out in bars before, and she guesses that Lacey has as well, but Belle isn’t used to the slightly more rowdy, jocular environment that is particular to the Rabbit Hole. 

“Are you okay?” she asks Belle, pulling away slightly to look into piercing blue eyes. “We can go somewhere else if you’re uncomfortable.”

“Would Lacey budge just because of a few catcalls?” Ruby has to admit that Lacey wouldn’t give a fig about the crude behavior from the other patrons so she shakes her head. “Then perhaps we will relocate later, if you’re nice to me, but for now I’m fine exactly where I am.” Ruby’s cheeks heat up again at the implication, and she can feel herself wanting to turn back into a babbling mess.

“I, okay, that’s fine, it’s up to you,” she manages. She will likely be teased for the rest of forever by how smooth she isn’t in this particular moment. 

“I’m not ashamed to be seen kissing you, Ruby.” Her eyes hold a touch of seriousness that vanishes as she adopts a slightly mischievous grin. “Here, let me prove it to you,” she says, pulling a willing Ruby into another kiss that lasts for much longer than the first.


End file.
